Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.
At a glance
Pick it if: Sales, recruiting and client teams who want every call recorded, searchable and pushed into their other tools.
Pick it if: Journalists, students, researchers and anyone who records conversations outside of video calls.
Overview
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| In one line | A meeting bot that records, transcribes and summarises your calls in 100+ languages. | Live transcripts for meetings, lectures and in-person conversations on your phone. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $18/seat/mo | $16.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.8Winner | 3.6 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 3.5 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | – |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | ||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No |
| AI abilities | ||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | No | No |
| Makes images | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – |
| Capabilities score | 11/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it on a handful of meetings. | Basic Free Occasional in-person recording. |
ProOur pick $18/seat/mo, or $10/seat/mo billed yearly Individuals and small teams recording most of their calls. | ProOur pick $16.99/mo, or $8.33/mo billed yearly Anyone who records a few conversations a week. | |
Business $29/seat/mo, or $19/seat/mo billed yearly Teams that want video recordings and team analytics. | Business $30/user/mo, or $19.99/user/mo billed yearly Teams who record all day. | |
Enterprise $39/seat/mo billed yearly Larger companies with IT and compliance needs. | Enterprise Custom Organisations needing SSO, API and compliance. | |
| Which plan to pick | Pro on yearly billing is the sweet spot: $10 a seat removes the storage cap and turns on integrations. Only step up to Business if you need video recordings or want to see team talk-time and coaching stats. Monthly billing costs nearly twice as much, so commit for a year once you know you'll use it. | Pro on the yearly plan is the sensible choice, and the monthly price is more than double it, so commit for a year or don't bother. Business is only worth it for teams recording several hours a day. |
Key features
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Standout features |
|
|
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pros |
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
Who each one is for
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Best for |
|
|
| You'll find it used by |
|
|
Questions people ask
Which is better, Fireflies.ai or Otter.ai?
Fireflies.ai scores highest overall in our ratings (Fireflies.ai 3.8/5 and Otter.ai 3.6/5). Fireflies.ai is best for recording and summarising client calls and searching across months of meetings. Otter.ai is best for in-person meeting transcripts and interviews and research.
Which is cheaper, Fireflies.ai or Otter.ai?
Fireflies.ai: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $18/seat/mo. Otter.ai: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $16.99/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
Swap in another tool
More tools from Productivity & Notes in the library.
